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It’s been nearly a month since I wrote this
piece in The Washington Post about Sarah Palin’s fake
feminism, and I’m still seeing responses to it – some awesome,
some…well, not. I’ve gotten emails calling me a jealous whore, seen
articles desperate to paint anti-choice policies as somehow pro-woman,
and read blog posts of conservatives furious that I would dare suggest
that not just anyone can call themselves a feminist. (Who cares if she
fights against other women’s rights?! She’s a woman and therefore must
be a feminist!)

Like most of the other pieces that criticized my WaPo
article, Parker focuses on my take-down of Palin’s anti-choice policies –
bemoaning the belief that “a pro-life woman can’t really be a
feminist.” I can’t say I’m surprised that so many chose to respond with
the abortion/feminism debate – it’s the most salacious, and certainly
the argument that will get the most attention. But it’s also pretty
goddamn lazy.

Because feminists aren’t criticizing Palin and her co-opting ilk
(organizations like IWF and writers like Christina Hoff Sommers) simply
because of their views on choice. These faux feminists are
called out as such because they fight against women’s rights across the
board.

Last week, the organization Sea Change released “Saying Abortion Aloud,” an extensive report examining how we can better support those who speak out for reproductive justice. We spoke with its creators to learn more about the research and what steps we can start taking today.

“Grow a thicker skin”: this admonition is given to pretty much anyone that spends even a micron of their time in the public eye of Sauron. It’s been on my mind a lot lately due to the GamerGatebusiness that’s wracked the video game world of late. As a result of that groundswell, I was subjected to a slew of truly awful harassment and bigotry, hands down the worst in both volume and cruelty that I’d seen in my career. Just the other night I was derided as “the post-op tranny” by some random Twitterer– and that’s one of the nicer comments I’ve received.

But is this so unusual? And is it really unique to women? ...

“Grow a thicker skin”: this admonition is given to pretty much anyone that spends even a micron of their time in the public eye of Sauron. It’s been on my mind a lot lately due to the ...

While we don’t know how many there will be once all the votes are tallied and the next Congress is sworn in, with Democrat Alma Adams’s victory a special election for representative of North Carolina’s 12th District, there are now 100 women in Congress for the first time ever. (Of course, another way of saying that is that it is 2014 and women make up less than 20 percent of Congress.)

Colorado and North Dakota both rejected personhood initiatives, while Tennessee voters unfortunately narrowly approved an amendment that declares that the state constitution does not guarantee the right to an abortion. (Colorado voters must be tired if having to say–three times now–that they ...

While we don’t know how many there will be once all the votes are tallied and the next Congress is sworn in, with Democrat Alma Adams’s victory a special election for representative of North ...